Friday 16 January 1948

It was Friday, under the sign of Capricorn. The US president was Harry S. Truman (Democratic).
I Walk Alone, directed by Byron Haskin, was one of the most viewed movies released in 1948
while The Big Fisherman by Lloyd C. Douglas was one of the best selling books.But much more happened that day: find out below..

Gregor Gysi: German attorney and key politician of the socialist left-wing political party The Left (Die Linke). He was the last leader of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, and led the effort that transformed it into the post-Communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), forerunner of The Left. He is well known for his rhetoric talent and is considered one of the best German public speakers.

Ruth Reichl: American writer, the author of "Tender at the Bone," 1998 and "Comfort Me with Apples," Reichl is the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, formerly a restaurant critic at The New York Times, and a former food editor and restaurant critic at the Los Angeles Times.

John Carpenter: American director of "Dark Star" 1974, "Halloween" 1978 and "Starman" 1984. His movie, "Halloween," was produced on a budget of $300,000 and effectively grossed $60 million, making this movie the most profitable independent production of its day. Carpenter co-wrote the screenplay and composed the music score of this and the succeeding five sequels to "Halloween."

Hailed as one of the finest novels to come out of the Second World War, The Naked and the Dead received unprecedented critical acclaim upon its publication and has since become part of the American canon.

Orson Foxworth celebrates his return to New Orleans by giving a dinner in the 1840 room at Antoines restaurant, ostensibly planned to present his niece for the Carnival festivities and to renew his romance with Amelie Lalande.

Hilary Laurens, a young Episcopal priest about 1939, has recently returned to his hometown, somewhere in the American heartland. Upon receiving sudden word that his grandfather, the Bishop of that diocese and the only father he's known, has suddenly taken ...